Maryland lacrosse legend Matt Rambo is enjoying his time in the PLL Championship Series — an indoor, fast-paced “sixes” style of lacrosse — and is not ruling out making a run at playing for the United States in the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
The PLL’s Utah Archers, New York Atlas, Boston Cannons and Maryland Whipsnakes are playing in the Championship Series at The St. James in Springfield, Va. Rambo, who has played for the Whipsnakes since 2019, is one of 13 players on Maryland’s roster for the Championship Series. Other former Terps on the roster include Colin Heacock, Jack Koras and Roman Puglise.
Games are played in a six-on-six format on a 70×36-meter field. The five field players use short sticks and are responsible for the entire field. Quarters are eight minutes. The shot clock is 30 seconds. The ball is always awarded to the defense after a missed shot out of bounds.
“Just having everyone get up and down the field, playing offense and defense, I think it’s such a great [option] for the youth, but I think it’s such a great way for the people and the fans to enjoy the game of lacrosse,” Rambo said on Glenn Clark Radio Feb. 12. “It’s so fast-paced. Lacrosse is the fastest sport on two feet, but now we even turned it up a notch with five-on-five and a smaller field.”
Each team plays each other one time in a round-robin format before the semifinals on Feb. 16 and the finals on Feb. 17. Games can be seen on ESPN+. The quick indoor tournament serves to whet the appetite of PLL fans and preview what’s to come in 2028. Lacrosse will be on the docket in Los Angeles in a sixes format.
Rambo says everyone is still trying to get a feel for the style of play.
“I think we’re all trying to figure it out because it’s relatively new in the last couple years, and it’s going to be in the Olympics in 2028,” Rambo said. “I think people are still trying to figure [out] the schemes and the best way run stuff, but all in all, it’s just another event for the PLL to put on so you don’t have to wait a whole year for the summer to come back on. It’s kind of like a halfway point. It’s a great product.”
Rambo has just about done it all in lacrosse. He won the national championship and Tewaaraton Award at Maryland in 2017. He won the Jim Brown MVP award during the PLL’s inaugural season in 2017. He led the Whipsnakes to league championships in 2019 and 2020. He has also competed internationally for USA Lacrosse.
However, Rambo hasn’t played in the Olympics — not yet, anyway. He will be 34 years old in 2028.
“The Olympics are three, four years away, so we’ll see how I’m going to be doing when I’m 34 years old because I’m 30 now. It might be for some of the younger guys,” Rambo said. “You’ve got to play offense and defense. I’m a more offensive-minded guy. We’ll see what happens in the next three, four years, even if I could just watch or be on the sidelines somewhere.”
For more from Rambo, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the PLL